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Angle of View in Composition

On Monday, I was out at Orlando Wetlands Park, and I found a butterfly to photograph, a Gulf Fritilary. I decided to take a few extra shots to illustrate the importance of your angle of view for composition. Most nature photographs are taken between 5-6 ft. off the ground--we're usually standing or walking, see something and trip the shutter. So for any subject higher than 6 ft off the ground, most photographs are looking up at it. For subjects lower than 5 ft. off the ground, most photographs look down on it.

Gulf Fritillary, #2

There's not much you can do under normal circumstances for subjects that are high off the ground, and that's one reason why pictures of scenery taken from balloons or high cliffs are so spectacular to us. We're seeing a scene in a way we're not accustomed to seeing it. With subjects that are low to the ground, there's much more we can do. Try crouching down low to the ground; lay on the ground if you have to. But do something to change the angle of view. Doing this has to significant benefits. First, you're looking at your subject in ways that others are not accustomed to seeing it. Second, you put yourself at an advantage if you're trying to achieve a nice blurry background behind your subject.

Gulf Fritillary, #3

Notice the three photographs of the Gulf Fritillary above. The only differences between these three photographs are the angles of view and the crop I gave the images with software. I took Gulf Fritillary, #2 and #3 before #1. With #2 I was standing and looking down on the butterfly. Since he wasn't more than 1 ft off the ground, the distance between the butterfly and the background was limited, and it was harder to separate him from the background. With #3 I changed my angle of view to get better depth of field. With #1 I crouched down near to the height of the butterfly, so the distance between the butterfly and the background dramatically increased, allowing for the image to have a blurrier background, even though I shot all three photos at the same f/stop. The the composition in #1 is simpler, and for me, that makes it better.